Madras nuclear power station shutdown safely

Kalpakkam town and power station employees affected, but the station is secure

Contrary to some irresponsible, open-ended, reports circulating in the media, the nuclear power station in Kalpakkam, near Chennai (Madras), was shut down safely.

The AEC Chairman said the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) at Kalpakkam, which has two Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors, was all right.

“Nothing happened to the plant. The second reactor was quickly shut down. The first reactor was not in operation because it was undergoing retubing. A massive pump-house drew water from the sea for condenser cooling. When the water level in the sea rose, the water level in the pump-house also went up. The operator in the control room detected this and stopped the reactor. So it is in the safe shutdown mode now,” he said.

According to him nothing happened to the turbine or the reactor buildings of the two reactors. “Both the units are safe,” he said.

The construction site of the 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) was flooded. Water was being pumped out. Dr. Kakodkar firmly denied that there was any leak from the reactors. “There is absolutely no radiation leak” he said. [The Hindu]

But some of its employees and nearby townships have suffered casualties.